1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a flashlight, more particularly to a flashlight with a connecting device for connecting lamp terminals of a lamp unit to a barrel and a battery unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional flashlight includes a conductive barrel, a lamp unit, a connecting device, and a tail cap unit. The conductive barrel is adapted to receive a battery unit therein, extends in a longitudinal direction, and has a front end and a rear end. The battery unit has a first electrode and a second electrode opposite to the first electrode in the longitudinal direction. The lamp unit is disposed at the front end of the barrel, and includes a lamp base and a lamp retained on the lamp base. The lamp unit has a central lamp terminal and a peripheral lamp terminal. The connecting device includes a conductive ring disposed between the lamp base and the front end of the barrel to connect the peripheral lamp terminal electrically to the barrel, an insulator seat fitted in the conductive ring and formed with a through hole that is aligned with the central lamp terminal, and a conductive biasing member disposed in the through hole and having a first biasing end that is adapted to contact electrically the first electrode and a second biasing end that contacts electrically the central lamp terminal. The tail cap unit is mounted on the rear end of the barrel, and is adapted to connect electrically the second electrode to the barrel.
The following is a drawback of the aforesaid conventional flashlight: When the tail cap unit is removed during replacement of the battery unit, the conductive biasing member of the connecting device may fall out of the insulator seat since there is no positioning mechanism for preventing undesired removal of the same, thereby resulting in inconvenience or even failure of the flashlight due to component loss.
Therefore, the main object of the present invention is to provide a flashlight that can overcome the aforesaid drawback associated with the prior art.
Accordingly, a flashlight of this invention comprises:
a conductive barrel adapted to receive a battery unit therein, the barrel extending in a longitudinal direction and having a front end and a rear end, the battery unit having a first electrode and a second electrode opposite to the first electrode in the longitudinal direction;
a lamp unit disposed at the front end of the barrel and including a lamp base and a lamp retained on the lamp base, the lamp unit having a central lamp terminal and a peripheral lamp terminal;
a connecting device including
a conductive ring disposed between the lamp base and the front end of the barrel to connect the peripheral lamp terminal electrically to the barrel,
an insulator seat fitted in the conductive ring and formed with a retaining hole that is aligned with the central lamp terminal, the retaining hole having a first open end remote from the central lamp terminal, and a second open end proximate to the central lamp terminal,
a positioning cap mounted on the insulator seat at the first open end of the retaining hole and formed with a through-hole, and
a conductive biasing member disposed in the retaining hole and having a first biasing end that extends through the through-hole in the positioning cap and that is adapted to contact electrically the first electrode, an intermediate section that is connected to the first biasing end, that is wider than the through-hole, and that is disposed in the retaining hole, and a second biasing end that is connected to the intermediate section, that extends through the second open end of the retaining hole, and that contacts electrically the central lamp terminal; and
a tail cap unit mounted on the rear end of the barrel and adapted to connect electrically the second electrode to the barrel.